Recent reads, Black History Month version

Linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy’s Quick Lit

A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenburg – Food. Family. Tragedy. Paris. Love. Is there anything else? I wanted to curl up in this book and never come out.

My local library had a table set up near the door with well-known black authors for Black History Month. I’m glad they did, because I grabbed a few titles I had been wanting to read for ages.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – This book intrigued me since I first heard of it. Henrietta Lacks’ cells, collected without her knowledge or consent, cultured and used for countless medical experiments around the world since, have literally touched the medical history of nearly every person living today. And yet her surviving relatives have never seen a penny and can’t afford health insurance. What is wrong with this picture? This book saddened and angered me, but I’m glad I read it.

Another title filed under “why did I wait so long to read this”: Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Angelou is a brilliant storyteller, her words dripping like honey. Sensitive readers note: this memoir contains a PG-rated description of childhood sexual abuse. SPOILER: The good news is, the perp gets his in the end. I wanted this book to be longer, it ends rather abruptly at a high point.

Who wouldn’t be intrigued by a woman named Sojourner Truth? What an inspiration she was: for Blacks, for women, for all human beings who want to replace fear and prejudice in the world with compassion and faith. I finally know where the phrase Ain’t I a Woman? came from. Fascinating narrative.